groovadelic
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Posts posted by groovadelic
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I’ve had 2 J160Es previously. One was a 62 reissue with ladder bracing. It was essentially a jazz box type guitar and sounded horrible as an acoustic. I later picked up a solid top J160E. I loved it, thought it was just as good as a J45. I did not like the pickup due to it being designed for nickel strings (as opposed to bronze).
With that said, I don’t think the guitar will ever lose it’s signature early 60s Beatles association - which might work for it and against it from a popularity perspective. I think that’s perhaps what makes lean towards niche instrument in addition to it’s hybrid appointments.
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As lacquer ages, it gasses out, discolors, gets brittle, and hardens. The wood continues to environmentally change with humidity and temperature variances. Hence you get lacquer checking and crazing.
If you like everything to stay shiny and new, I’m sure you can encase it in glass with climate control in a room with minimal UV exposure. Otherwise, it’s going to age just like everything else in life.
Personally, I love both!
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I think what I'm reading is that this is not indicative of Gibson, but it is totally unacceptable. Of all the hands that have worked on a high-priced guitar - none of them are getting paid like dentists. Let's not forget, these are human beings working in a factory up on Montana. So that could mean new people who are messing up, backups filling in for workers that are out, etc. . We are all hoping this doesn't become indicative of a bad year or era of guitars.
In the end, I have faith that the folks at Gibson will continue to take pride in working on instruments that represent a significant part of American history. That spirit and excitement continues to us who buy the instrument as well.
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Regarding the saddle - Gibson does not compensate bone saddles. Tusq which is used on the standard line would be compensated from the supplier.
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Is it an engraved pick guard? Any pics of it?
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I believe it’s scalloped for all Hummingbirds and actually all Gibson acoustics.
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Gruhn's pretty accurate on my 1963 Everly - 4-3/8".
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Love the grain on the top of that Dove! Congrats!
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Thanks - just watched a couple of videos from Norms with a J185 and Everly. I think you’re right Dave. The J185 definitely looks like it’s a deeper body than the Everly.
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Anyone here own or play 50s J185? From pictures, it looks like a shallower body and I always thought the J180 shared the same specs just coming 2 years later with the obvious changes.
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If you look at the guitar, it’s essentially an Everly Brothers model (with the 60s pinless adjustable bridge) but with a crescent headstock inlay. The only thing different appears to be the body depth which they have never reissued accurately on the J180 or J185 models.
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I want one! Hope Gibson will make a limited run. It’s been a while since they did a run of J180s.
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ill be accompanying my wife at a conference in Zion, IL in early November. I’ll have some time to kill while she is in conference, and I’d like to do some guitar hunting. I will stop in the Chicago Music Exchange on our way out of town, but wondered if there are any shops in the northern area for me to visit. Zion is pretty far north of the city.
Thanks for any tips.
Roger
As mentioned, the Musicgallery is the only place up north that I can think of. A really cool store and I have not been there in the past 5 years, but from what I recall - lots of new Fender Custom Shop guitars and high end Gibsons. They did not much of an inventory for vintage instruments. They also had a really nice boutique amp selection - Victoria and Carr.
CME is the place to go for vintage guitars. It's pretty much the only place I go to these days.
Rock n Roll Vintage is another nice spot with a smaller selection of vintage guitars - they do have tons of pedals. It's close to CME so not anywhere near Zion.
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The 2007 TV was the inaugural year as well as the Modern Classic line. This is off memory by the way...
TV: lighter and forward-shifted bracing, thinner finish, binding over the fret ends, spruce top, mahogany bs, madagascar rosewood bridge/fretboard, no pickup, banner headstock, orange label (does not say "true vintage"), vintage kluson tuners, tan-pink premium case.
MC: standard bracing, binding under fret ends, spruce top, mahogany bs, indian rosewood bridge/fretboard, LR Baggs pickup, MOP headstock, white label, grover tuners, standard case
Other notes:
Adi top came much later as did all the hot hide-glue stuff (at least what was advertised)
VOS "flat" finish introduced in 2008
Madagascar rosewood replaced at some point due to fed regulations
Hope this helps
Correction - No binding on the J45. Was thinking about the Hummingbird.
The one on reverb is legit although it does not have the correct case. If it were a later 2006, the guitar would not have a 40s banner headstock. And TVs never had a custom shop decal on the back (though you can never say never with Gibson).
As mentioned, some standard models sound really good. A friend of mine has a modern classic hummingbird and playing it side-by-side, I thought it sounded better than my TV VOS Hummingbird (all hide-glue version). Still expecting that mine will mature and continue to open up well!
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The 2007 TV was the inaugural year as well as the Modern Classic line. This is off memory by the way...
TV: lighter and forward-shifted bracing, thinner finish, binding over the fret ends, spruce top, mahogany bs, madagascar rosewood bridge/fretboard, no pickup, banner headstock, orange label (does not say "true vintage"), vintage kluson tuners, tan-pink premium case.
MC: standard bracing, binding under fret ends, spruce top, mahogany bs, indian rosewood bridge/fretboard, LR Baggs pickup, MOP headstock, white label, grover tuners, standard case
Other notes:
Adi top came much later as did all the hot hide-glue stuff (at least what was advertised)
VOS "flat" finish introduced in 2008
Madagascar rosewood replaced at some point due to fed regulations
Hope this helps
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The original EB's had no finish under the guards from what I have seen.
Confirmed - my Everly does not have finish under the pickguard. My theory on those guitars is that they applied the pickguard with glue, sprayed the nitro, and then removed the sticker wrap that covered the top of the pickguard. You can see the ebony finish touching the sides of the pickguard if you look closely. The newer ones have a stencil of some kind. I believe Gibson started doing this in 2010 or 2011. J180s prior just had the pickguards over the finish.
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I am not one that likes to hear anyone cast blame, but I actually agree with Henry. He should have went direct to consumer 10-15 years ago when Gibson had a resurgence in demand (that's on him). You can't put your product on retail shelves anymore and expect a strong return.
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Apologies if this was mentioned - i did not read through all the comments, but there's a youtube clip explaining the difference.
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There's the materials aspect of the pickguard which may be a challenge. They are very thick and it has to be since they need to be engraved.
The design of the pickguard engraving has got to either be a mold or an heat imprint pattern that Gibson uses. The Hummingbird pickguard, as an example, did not engrave pickguards on reissues until they found the molds in around 2002-2003. They then started to create a special historic line that featured these pickguard which later became the True Vintage series and now the Vintage series.
The painting process is basically applying paint by hand and polishing the top of the pickguard so the paint applies within the "grooves". It is fully exposed and can rub off from strumming.
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I was wondering if anyone knows how a J-200 "flowers and vines" pickguard is made (see attached JPG for example)?
Thanks, Dan
Hi Dan - there are 2 types. The original way they would do this is pour the plastic into a mold and then apply paint in the grooves. Some of the J200 pickguards depending on era also have MOP dots glued/inlayed as well.
The other type on the newer SJ200 standards are just printed and sandwiched between two layers of pickguard material (outer layer being clear).
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It might be a shim to balance out the strings for the pickup. If the saddle slot or saddle is not completely flat, certain strings will come through louder than others.
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Jikes, , , this is interesting. I'm sure most people here believe the 3 first-wave squares (H-bird, SJ, CW) were and still are 24,75 short-scale guitars.
And that there were/are few exceptions, which would be long-scale Dove-necks put on randomly here and there as Kalamazoo either confused, experimental or short of stock rolled the everyday production forward.
I need to measure mine again, , , or no I don't, I'm sure 3 of them are short and the 68'er (where the scale is known to have changed) is long.
Let's hear what others have to say here - can't wait to see this unfold.
Regarding volume, I'm afraid I disagree too. The old squares vary and ain't necessarily louder than the modern, post 1990 versions.
Btw. the Birds and a smaller # of SJs were long-scaled plus/minus 1990 before Bozeman and Ferguson made their mind up to focus and follow the original specs'n'virtues we treasure so much.
We'll see what happens.
Cheers
This catalog from 1962 lists them as 24.75" scale! Very strange... http://www.vintageguitarandbass.com/gibson/catalogues/1962_34.php
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One issue for some is the nut width. You'll encounter examples from the late 1960's width a narrow span that are difficult for some of us to play. My '65 has the conventional width, but I've owned a couple 66/67's that didn't suit me at all.
One of the most surprising things about 1960s Hummingbirds - they're 25.5" scale length. I think the only year they were made with a 24.75" scale length may have been 1960 (not even sure about that). So '61-70s Birds were all long scale mahogany acoustics. They were loud instruments compared to the shorter scale Hummingbirds of today.
Check it out:
1961 - 25.5" Fretted Americana
1965 - 25.25" (weird length) GryphonStrings
1968 - 25.5" Fretted Americana
If you find or own one that is 24.75 - I would love to know! I have yet to find an example.
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I'm looking to do exactly this, however, the pics in this post are no longer available. Any one have them saved who wants to share, please?
Rehosted the images. Looks like Photobucket is now charging to host pictures
![[thumbdn]](//content.invisioncic.com/p286412/emoticons/default_msp_thumbdn.gif)
![[thumbdn]](http://content.invisioncic.com/p286412/emoticons/default_msp_thumbdn.gif)
Doves in Flight
in Gibson Acoustic
Posted
They’ve been around since the mid-90s. The initial versions were a limited edition premium Dove with the dove in flight headstock. Over the years, the pickguard, binding, and fretboard inlays got very intricate. The fingerboard/bridge went to ebony as well but I think it varies by year.